Long Billed Starling

“All organisms vary. It is in the highest degree improbable that any given variety should have exactly the same relations to surrounding conditions as the parent stock. In that case it is either better fitted (when the variation may be called useful), or worse fitted, to cope with them. If better, it will tend to supplant the parent stock; if worse, it will tend to be extinguished by the parent stock.”

Thomas Henry Huxley, Criticism on “The origin of species” (1864)

This being so, it is a shock to sometimes see evolution in action. Atop Café Twitch (no less), a stunning case of variety; a Starling with a super long beak.